25fe*--  ■'  ^ 


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NOV    4    1955 


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^ICHLiVf' 


JEW 
AND  NON'JEW 

• 
BY  MARTIN  A.  MEYER,  ph.d. 


JEW  AND  NON-JEW 


MARTIN   A.    MEYER,    PH.D. 


HP  HE  attitude  of  the  Jew  to  the  non-Jew  during 
^  the  thirty-five  centuries  of  Jewish  history  has 
been  subject  to  all  the  variations  that  time  and  cir- 
cumstance could  condition.  A  careful  and  detailed 
exposition  of  these  changes  would  entail  the  pro- 
duction of  a  bulky  volume.  It  shall  be  our  endeavor 
briefly  to  outline  the  important  phases  of  this  great 
evolution,  and  to  present  the  goal  of  the  development, 
as  well  as  to  test  its  application  at  various  points. 

Apologetics  are  apt  to  overstate ;  polemics  to  under- 
rate. So  on  the  one  hand,  the  Jew  writing  in  defense 
of  his  people  has  erred  in  presenting  a  picture  so 
perfect  even  to  the  last  detail  as  to  create  suspicion 
by  its  overperfection.  On  the  other  hand,  the  non-Jew 
has  been  guilty  of  gross  misstatement  and  ignorant 
assertion.  Most  of  these  have  copied  the  errors  of 
their  predecessors,  one  after  the  other,  so  that, 
though  the  scientific  atmosphere  is  present  in  the 
form  of  numerous  citations,  its  spirit  has  been  sadly 
wanting  by  reason  of  manifest  bias. 

The  starting  point  of  all  true  Jewish  thinking  has 
been  the  integrity  of  the  Jew  and  of  Judaism.  Every- 
thing else  has  been  subordinated  to  that  one  concept. 
The   right   of   every   proper   group    to   maintain    its 


[  4  J  JEW  AND 

identity  and  to  perpetuate  itself  has  been  assumed  as 
axiomatic.  To  conserve  the  people  which  Moses 
carried  in  his  bosom  as  a  father  his  child,  the  people 
which  God  took  from  the  midst  of  another  people, 
the  nation  upon  whom  God's  name  was  called  that  it 
might  be  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  a  holy  nation,  for 
whose  protection  the  inspired  seers  of  Israel  dreamed 
and  worked,  rabbis  thought  and  taught  and  a  myriad 
witnesses  died,  this  thought  remains  one  of  the  foun- 
dation stones  of  all  real  Jewish  thinking.  It  is  indeed 
the  touchstone  by  which  all  Jewish  activity  must  be 
tested.  The  Jews  looked  upon  themselves  as  the 
chosen  people  of  God.  Tradition  has  it  that  God 
offered  the  Torah  first  to  the  nations,  each  of  which  in 
turn  rejected  it.  Israel  alone  was  willing  to  submit  to 
the  duty  of  promulgating  it.  As  is  evidenced  by  the 
testimony  of  the  prophets  this  did  not  entail  the 
position  that  the  other  nations  were  rejected  by  Him. 
But  whereas  all  nations  were  his  children,  Israel  was 
his  "first  born,"  his  chosen,  with  all  the  privileges  of 
the  first  born,  but  also  with  all  the  responsibilities  of 
that  position.  This  gives  the  keynote  of  the  situation. 
The  attitude  of  the  Jew  has  been  more  pro-Jewish 
than  anti-alien;  not  indeed  that  he  loved  the  alien 
less,  but  the  Jew  more. 

The  ancient  world,  .as  is  well  known,  was  not  sym- 
pathetic to  the  stranger.  The  attitude,  for  example, 
of  the  Greek  to  the  barbarian  is  familiar.  It  was  largely 


NON-JEW [5J 

one  of  unqualified  contempt.  The  best  of  her  philos- 
ophers shared  in  this  point  of  view  to  a  more  or  less 
extent.  The  very  word  "barbarian"  had  a  sinister 
implication.  Citizenship  being  a  political  and  a 
religious  fact,  and  religion  being  founded  upon  the 
performance  of  a  common  ancestral  cult,  the  outsider 
remained  an  outsider  with  all  the  disadvantages  of 
the  alien.  Yet  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  Zeus  was 
considered  the  special  guardian  of  the  stranger. 
Judaism  had  no  such  physical  basis  for  its  religious 
life,  and  consequently  stood  ready  to  accept  the 
stranger  into  the  fold  far  earlier  and  far  more  readily 
than  did  the  Greek  world. 

It  has  become  a  part  of  the  outfit  of  every  high 
school  boy  that  the  Latin  confounded  in  language  and 
in  thought  the  stranger  and  the  enemy.  It  may  be 
that  the  Jew  began  his  history  with  the  same  con- 
fusion, but  there  is  no  evidence  in  the  language  pre- 
served to  us  in  the  Old  Testament  scriptures.  The 
early  records  point  to  a  narrow  conception  of  his 
relations  with  the  nations,  but,  with  startling  rapidity, 
he  developed  the  fullest  implications  of  his  religious 
attitude  and  laid  aside  his  antagonism  to  the  stranger 
in  favor  of  a  broad  and  inclusive  sense  of  fraternity. 
In  his  struggle  with  surrounding  polytheism,  it  was 
no  easy  matter  to  preserve  the  balance  between  his 
zeal  for  his  faith  and  his  feeling  against  paganism 
and  the  fraternal  ideal  of  his  religious  life.  Frequently 


[6] JEW  AND 

identifying  the  enemies  of  God  with  the  enemies  of 
Israel,  he  had  no  small  task  in  clearly  asserting  his 
view  point  of  human  brotherhood.  Yet  his  earliest 
codes  preserve  passages  which  are  proof  that  he  even 
then  entertained  sentiments,  generous  towards  the 
non-Jew.  The  inclusion  of  the  stranger  in  the  Sabbath 
law  in  the  Decalog,  the  prohibition  not  to  hate  the 
Egyptian  despite  what  Israel  had  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  Egypt,  the  command  to  love  the  stranger 
because  ''ye  know  the  heart  of  the  stranger,"  the 
rule  of  equality  before  the  law  for  stranger  and  native 
born,  Solomon's  prayer  for  the  stranger,  Ahab  hailing 
the  defeated  king  of  Syria  as  his  brother,  Isaiah's 
"my  house  shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer  for  all 
peoples,"  as  well  as  the  missionary  zeal  of  the  prophets 
— all  these  facts  offer  a  line  of  testimony  in  support 
of  the  Jewish  tradition  of  generosity  towards  the  non- 
Jew  through  a  long  and  troublous  period  of  historical 
development. 

The  treatment  of  the  conquered  Canaanites  was 
in  accord  with  the  laws  of  ancient  warfare.  Yet  even 
in  this  field  we  find  attempts  in  the  Book  of  Deuter- 
onomy to  modify  the  severities  of  such  usages.  It 
must  be  polemics  hard  put  to  finding  standing  place 
which  falls  back  upon  war  measures  as  an  indictment 
of  the  attitude  which  the  Jew  held  to  the  outsider. 
Similarly '  it  is  weak  to  place  overmuch  emphasis 
upon    the   expressions   of   an    exasperated   people   in 


NON-JEW  [  7  ] 

times  of  great  national  distress  and  to  draw  general 
conclusions  therefrom.  The  Jew  never  set  up  the 
impossible  ideal  of  loving  his  enemies,  though  he 
counselled  moderation  and  restraint  in  the  treatment 
of  them.  Human-like  he  vented  his  wrath  and  his 
contempt  upon  his  merciless  conquerers  in  bitter 
words  when  no  other  weapon  was  left  him.  In  his 
early  national  life,  while  he  was  able  successfully  to 
maintain  himself  against  the  world,  his  point  of  view 
was  less  sympathetic,  though  his  teachers  laid  re- 
current emphasis  upon  his  religious-  duty  in  this 
respect. 

When  the  larger  contacts  of  history  were  made, 
when  he  was  threatened  in  turn  by  Assyrian,  Egyptian 
and  Babylonian,  the  Jew  took  an  increasingly  larger 
point  of  view.  When  the  great  catastrophe  of  the  first 
exile  overtook  him,  adversity  taught  him  a  still 
broader  sympathy.  As  nationality  counted  less  and 
less,  religion  counted  more  and  more.  Jeremiah  could 
counsel  loyal  citizenship  on  the  part  of  the  conquered 
in  place  of  stirring  up  further  hatred  and  mistrust. 
The  Second  Isaiah,  tutored  in  the  bitter  school  of 
adversity  in  a  foreign  land,  could  rise  to  the  heights, 
and  vision  the  gathering  of  the  peoples  in  Zion  under 
the  aegis  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  The  world  of  the 
prophets  had  no  narrow  horizon.  It  was  coterminous 
with  ancient  civilization.  And  the  Jew  learned  from 
the   stranger  as   the  stranger  learned   from   him.    if 


[8]  JEW  AND 

Persian  and  Babylonian  influences  played  any  role 
in  Jewish  thought — and  who  doubts  that  they  did? — 
it  was  because  the  Jew  was  ready  to  admit  such  in- 
fluences. The  sympathetic  overlordship  of  Persia  left 
deep  traces  upon  the  soul  and  mind  of  the  Jew,  which 
had  not  been  possible  if  the  Jew  had  at  that  time  set 
himself  up  in  opposition  to  all  things  non-Jewish. 
It  was  no  rabid  pro-Judaean  who  hailed  the  heathen 
Cyrus  as  the  Messiah.  It  was  no  tribalist  who  saw  in 
God's  dealings  with  the  nations,  the  working  out  of 
a  Divine  plan  for  humankind.  True,  Israel  was  the 
center  of  that  plan ;  but  in  the  plan  the  nations  played 
their  appointed  role.  The  Greek  felt  too  self-sufficient 
to  admit  that  the  barbarian  world  had  anything  to 
teach  him.  No  doubt  the  assertions  of  the  later  Jews 
of  Alexandria  that  the  philosophers  had  gone  to 
school  to  the  prophets  and  the  priests  of  Jerusalem 
but  added  to  the  bitterness  w^hich  the  Greeks  enter- 
tained towards  Jewish  propagandists  in  particular, 
though  no  less  illiberal  towards  other  ''barbarians." 
There  is  no  evidence  that  even  Ezra  and  Nehemiah, 
who  are  so  frequently  referred  to  as  types  of  narrow- 
minded  Judaism,  entertained  any  sentiments  hostile 
to  non- Jewish  peoples.  Their  objections  to  inter- 
marriage with  heathen  and  half-heathen  peoples  were 
based  upon  far  higher  grounds.  They  realized  that  the 
integrity  of  the  restored  nation  and  church  was  at 
stake.  A  loose  compromise  policy  which  would  have 


NON-JEW  [  9  ] 

continued  to  permit  the  Samaritans  to  further  in- 
fluence the  ideals  of  nascent  Judaism  would  have 
destroyed  the  Jew  and  eliminated  his  point  of  view 
at  a  time  when  it  was  phrasing  itself  and  preparing 
for  its  largest  service.  We  must  let  go  frequently,  the 
better  to  hold  on.  And  these  far  seeing  statesmen 
and  religionists  saw  beyond  the  temporary  circum- 
stances of  compromise  and  conciliation  with  those  to 
whom  conciliation  was  a  onesided  process. 

When  the  Jew  came  into  intimate  contact  with 
the  larger  world  of  the  west,  and  was  compelled  to 
struggle  to  maintain  himself  and  his  point  of  view, 
he  started  out  with  well  defined  convictions  upon  the 
matter  of  his  attitude  to  and  his  relations  with  the 
world  outside.  Whatever  our  theories  of  the  date  of 
the  Pentateuch,  the  Persian  period  saw  the  Jew  with 
his  Torah,  if  not  in  final  form  at  any  rate  substantially 
as  it  is  today.  The  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself"  (Lev.  19:16)  rang  out  all  the  more  clearly 
and  vividly  because  it  was  set  in  the  very  book  in 
which  one  would  least  expect  it.  And  the  testimony 
of  an  unbroken  line  of  Jewish  teachers  must  be  taken 
as  conclusive  as  to  the  inclusive  meaning  of  neighbor 
even  against  the  anti-Jewish  coterie  of  modern 
scholars  whose  delight  it  is  to  rob  Israel  of  every 
vestige  of  power  and  truth. 

The  missionary  vision  of  the  Second  Isaiah  r«^sts 
upon  the  conceptions  of  the  divine  and  human  unity 


[  10  ]  JEW  AND 

as  found  in  the  older  Israelitish  codes  and  literature. 
The  Universal  God,  Lord  God  of  the  spirits  of  all 
flesh,  looks  down  from  heaven  upon  all  the  sons  of 
man  and  demands  that  all  his  children  shall  dwell 
together  in  peace  and  in  safety.  And  that  missionary 
faith  continued  in  Israel  through  the  long  years  of 
Persian  preparation,  of  Greek  temptation  and  of 
Roman  domination  and  persecution.  It  evoked  the 
sneer  from  the  lips  of  the  evangelist  that  the  Pharisees 
compassed  land  and  sea  to  gain  one  proselyte.  It 
continued  despite  the  disaffection  of  incipient  Christi- 
anity and  the  loss  of  all  vestiges  of  national  life,  with 
the  attendant  horrors  of  the  Roman  wars  and  the 
scattering  of  the  people  among  the  nations.  It  out- 
lived the  official  recognition  of  Christianity  and  its 
alliance  with  the  State.  Active  Jewish  propaganda 
succumbed  only  to  force  majeure.  It  has  never  died 
out  of  the  hearts  of  true  Israelites — the  vision  that 
some  day  the  world  would  be  "full  of  the  knowledge 
of  God  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea."  It  crystalized 
itself  in  the  prayer  book,  that  classic  of  Israel's  faith, 
and  crowned  each  day's  prayer  with  the  hope  that 
**to  Him  every  knee  would  bend  and  every  tongue 
give  homage." 

The  two  holy-days  which  the  growing  consciousness 
of  the  Jew  singled  out  as  most  significant  in  his 
ecclesiastical  year  are  not  those  founded  upon  events 
of  his  national   history  but   upon   universal   human 


NON-JEW  [11] 

need  and  experience.  On  the  Day  of  Atonemen^  he 
selects  for  the  prophetical  lesson  that  gem  of  Bible 
books,  Jonah,  to  inculcate  the  universal  love  and 
regard  of  God  for  all  his  creatures.  On  those  solemn 
days  the  Jew  prays  ''Now  therefore  O  Lord  our  God 
impose  Thine  awe  upon  all  Thy  works  and  Thy  fear 
upon  all  Thou  hast  created,  that  all  Thy  works  may 
revere  Thee  and  all  Thy  creatures  prostrate  them- 
selves before  Thee,  that  they  may  form  a  single  band 
to  do  Thy  will  with  a  perfect  heart,"  etc.  And  no 
people  which  so  prays  for  all  the  world,  which  has 
the  missionary  spirit  can  be  hostile  to  the  world 
outside,  however  it  may  regard  the  calibre  of  the 
thought  of  the  world.  Its  zeal  may  frequently  be  too 
ardent  for  measured  statement  and  proper  restraint. 
But  desire  for  the  recognition  of  Jewish  truth  and  an 
active  propaganda  to  that  end  could  not  rest  upon 
any  hostility  to  the  stranger,  implied  or  explicit; 
nor  did  it. 

The  Hellenistic  period  of  Jewish  history  is  rich  in 
its  evidences  of  the  fraternal  spirit  and  a  splendid 
literature  was  produced  under  its  inspiration.  Over- 
eager  propaganda  was  sometimes  onesided;  but  the 
propagandist  does  not  debate  a  question.  He  takes 
sides  and  asks  adherence  to  that  side.  And  above  all 
else  the  Judaeo-Hellenistic  literature  is  zealous  for  the 
dissemination  of  Jewish  truth  among  the  peoples.  In 
its  advocacy  of  that  truth  many  a  literary  forgery 


[  12  ]  JEW  AND 

may  be  charged  to  its  misplaced  ardor;  yet  thereby 
many  a  telling  point  was  made — and  no  doubt  with 
justice — against  pagan  morals  and  pagan  theology  in 
favor  of  Jewish  viewpoints  which  hit  hard  and  caused 
resentment.  And  the  conscience  of  the  age  showed 
no  disapproval  of  such  pseudepigrapha.  For  the  most 
part  there  is  a  well  defined  distinction  in  the  literature 
of  this  period  between  the  sin  and  the  sinner,  between 
the  heathen  scheme  of  life  and  the  heathen  himself. 

Even  Alexandrian  anti-Semitism  did  not  provoke  a 
Jewish  anti-Alienism.  Philo  wrote  in  the  most  exalted 
strain  of  the  duty  of  the  Jew  to  the  outsider,  and  laid 
the  basis  of  a  fraternalism  which  now  embraces  the 
world.  Josephus'  "Contra  Apionem"  is  a  serious  dis- 
cussion of  the  anti-Judaic  theses  of  the  Egyptian; 
but  there  is  nowhere  any  evidence  of  any  feeling  save 
that  of  righteous  indignation  at  the  monstrous  charges 
rather  than  against  the  perpetrator  of  the  charges. 
There  is  the  expected  emphasis  upon  the  validity  of 
the  Jewish  position;  an  anxiety  to  make  his  points 
good  and  strong;  but  no  bitterness  towards  the 
outsider  as  such. 

Many  have  taken  the  uncontrolled  evidence  of  the 
New  Testament  as  proof  positive  that  the  Judaism 
of  the  period  was  narrow,  exclusive,  tribal,  unsympa- 
thetic— what  not.  It  is  forgotten  that  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  an  ex  parte  statement  made  at  a  time  when 
the  desire  to  emphasize  the  differences  between  the 


NON-JEW  [  13  ] 

new  church  and  the  mother  faith  was  dominant  in 
the  thinking  of  its  authors;  nor  is  the  evidence  of  the 
Gospels  and  the  Epistles  uniform  in  the  presentation 
of  Jewish  matters  and  points  of  view.  When  it  is 
controlled  by  the  unquestioned  historical  experiences 
of  that  period  and  the  statements  of  the  rabbinical 
literature,  a  far  different  picture  is  presented. 

The  frequent  references  in  contemporary  Latin 
and  Greek  literature  to  pagan  converts  to  Judaism, 
the  well  known  tales  about  Hillel  and  other  rabbis  at 
whose  hands  heathens  sought  admission  into  Judaism, 
the  serious  discussions  of  the  rabbis  about  the  method 
and  the  standards  of  admission  for  the  proselyte  to 
Judaism,  the  oft  repeated  tradition  that  sacrifices 
were  offered  on  the  feast  of  Tabernacles  in  the  Temple 
at  Jerusalem  for  the  seventy  nations  (this  number 
became  stereotyped  as  representing  the  totality  of 
non-Jewish  peoples),  the  sacrifices  offered  on  behalf 
of  the  foreign  ruler  (not  to  him),  the  fact  of  accom- 
modations for  the  Gentile  in  the  temple  structure 
itself;  the  acceptance  of  gifts  for  the  Temple  from 
non-Jews  (indeed  the  Torah  itself  contemplated  the 
possibility  of  a  Gentile  offering  sacrifice,  Lev.  22:25), 
and  tradition  and  history  tell  of  as  many  such, 
indicate  no  ''odium  generis  humani,"  hatred  of  the 
human  race,  such  as  the  Roman  Tacitus  laid  at  the 
door  of  the  Jew.  The  business  and  social  relations 
which  obtained  between  the  Jew  and  the  non-Jew  at 


[  14  ]  JEW  AND 

this  period  (indeed  the  Assuan  Papyri  show  how  early 
and  widespread  such  relations  were)  and  of  later 
Talmudic  times  are  positive  witnesses  to  the  fact 
that  the  Jew  rather  than  hating  his  fellowmen 
extended  to  him  all  the  moral  considerations  which 
he  felt  were  incumbent  upon  him  towards  his  fellow- 
Jews. 

In  presenting  the  ideal  of  filial  piety  the  rabbis  of 
the  Talmud  cited  the  case  of  Dama  ben  Nethina,  a 
non-Jew.  Commenting  upon  the  words  of  David 
(II  Sam.  7:19)  "This  is  the  law  for  man,  O  Lord," 
the  same  teachers  interpret  it  in  a  sense,  to  be  sure 
not  intended  by  the  original  speaker  but  indicative 
of  their  broadmindedness,  "not  a  law  for  either  priest 
or  Levite  or  Jew  but  for  many  We  learn  from  the 
same  sources  that  the  Holy  Sabbath  itself  might 
be  violated  in  case  of  danger  of  life,  of  Gentiles  as 
well  as  Jews.  We  also  read  that  the  poor,  the  sick, 
the  dead  and  the  mourner  of  the  stranger  are  to  be 
treated  in  just  the  same  manner  as  the  same  classes 
of  the  house  of  Israel.  Another  well  known  passage 
lays  down  the  rule  that  usury  shall  not  be  practiced 
even  towards  the  non-Jew.  The  famous  Hillel  incul- 
cates love  of  all  fellow  creatures,  the  word  Briyot 
used  being  impossible  of  limited  application  to  Jews 
alone;  even  Akiba,  famous  for  his  literal  method  of 
Bible  interpretation,  is  cited  in  the  Ethics  of  the 
Fathers  as  felicitating  mankind  because  it  was  created 


NON-JEW  [  15  ] 

in  the  image  of  its  Maker  and  of  its  consciousness  of 
that  fact.  Ben  Zoma,  one  of  the  leaders  of  his  gene- 
ration teaches  ''Despise  not  any  man";  and  so  we 
might  continue  indefinitely  citing  rabbi  after  rabbi 
and  his  sentiments  towards  the  non-Jew. 

The  horror  of  the  Jew  for  idolatrous  practices  knew 
no  limit  and  the  utmost  severity  was  manifested  to- 
wards the  Jew  who  had  apostasized;  but  non-Jews 
were  permitted  the  practice  of  their  faith  in  Palestine 
provided  they  did  nothing  to  offend  the  sensibilities  of 
the  public.  The  old  formulas  against  idolaters  and 
idolatry  have  been  preserved  since  this  period,  but 
their  theory  and  intent  exclude  Christian  and  Moslem. 
Despite  the  dietary  laws  we  find  that  Jews  and  non- 
Jews  dine  together  and  social  intercourse  continued 
between  Jews  and  their  fellows  until  church  councils 
stepped  in  and  forbade  such  intercourse,  often  on 
pain  of  death.  Mutual  respect,  one  for  the  other,  is 
apparent  even  through  the  acerbities  of  religious  con- 
troversy, as  witness  Justin's  Dialog  with  the  Jew 
Trypho.  The  post  Talmudical  rabbis  were  frequently 
called  upon  to  adjudicate  cases  involving  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath  and  many  similar  things,  arising 
out  of  business  associations  of  Jews  and  non-Jews. 
Rather  ought  we  consider  the  attitude  of  the  domi- 
nant church  on  this  subject  as  evidenced  in  the  early 
centuries  and  the  consequent  effect  upon  the  rela- 
tions of  their  followers  to  Jews. 


[16]  JEW  AND 

There  were,  too,  leaders  among  the  Jews  at  this 
time  who  represented  a  similar  intransigent  position 
towards  the  non-Jews;  but  the  number  of  those  who 
taught  liberal  opinions  and  lived  them  is  all  the  more 
remarkable.  Josephus  who  (Contra  Apionem  2) 
teaches  the  duty  of  the  Jew  to  respect  the  faith  of 
his  neighbor,  finds  himself  in  the  company  of  the 
later  rabbis  who  assert  that  the  righteous  of  all  peoples 
have  a  share  in  the  bliss  of  the  world  to  come.  True 
the  bitterness  of  spirit  of  a  people  whose  rights  and 
privileges  were  outraged  by  their  Roman — both 
pagan  and  Christian — rulers  found  expression  from 
time  to  time.  The  Zealots,  true  to  their  name,  threw 
aside  all  restraints  and  expressed  themselves  in  un- 
measured terms  as  opposed  to  the  oppressor;  but 
these  were  not  only  sectarians  of  a  religious  nature 
but  also  extremists  of  a  political  party  who  desired 
war  to  the  death  with  Rome.  Many  of  their  Jewish 
contemporaries  viewed  them  with  suspicion;  their 
attitude  can  not  be  taken  as  typical  of  the  Jew. 
When  during  these  last  wars  with  Rome  one  breaks 
out  with  the  startling  statement  that  "the  best  non- 
Jew  is  worthy  of  death"  it  is  to  be  understood  as 
provoked  by  the  circumstances  of  the  day  fully  as 
much  as  the  statement  forbidding  association  with 
non-Jews  in  the  trying  times  of  the  Maccabean  revo- 
lution (2  Mac.  14,  3:38).  These  expressions  do  not 
represent    so    much    the    normal    standpoint   of    the 


NON-JEW  [17] 

Jewish  religion  as  they  do  the  rebound  of  the  perse- 
cuted against  the  persecutor  in  times  of  great  stress. 
It  would  be  just  as  fair,  or  unfair,  to  judge  the  atti- 
tude of  German  and  French  to  each  other,  or  of 
American  and  English  by  the  heated  bitter  jingles 
and  cartoons  that  are  current  during  war  times. 
Indeed,  the  Talmud  itself  suggests  that  responsibility 
is  not  to  be  urged  too  severely  for  expressions  which 
are  the  result  of  woe  or  oppression.  France,  or  even 
Victor  Hugo  himself,  is  not  to  be  judged  harshly 
because  during  the  war,  Hugo  cries  out,  "Poison  the 
wells,  murder  the  sleeping;  seize  scythes,  axes  or 
pitchforks  to  kill  them." 

We  find  that  Jesus  refers  to  the  non-Jews  as  dogs 
and  swine.  To  those  who  know  the  excessive  and 
exaggerated  method  of  the  oriental,  such  expressions 
occasion  little  surprise.  But  a  tu  quoque  is  not  enough 
to  urge  in  justification  of  the  Jew's  attitude.  In  a 
period  such  as  that  of  the  last  wars  with  Rome  (the 
Jewish  war,  66-70;  the  Bar  Kochba  rebellion,  132-135) 
and  in  the  Maccabean  conflict  with  Syrian  Hellenism, 
the  question  at  stake  is  the  very  existence  of  Judaism 
itself.  Extreme  situations  demand  extreme  measures. 
The  real  marvel  is,  the  conflict  past,  that  Judaism 
resumes  its  normal  manner  and  goes  on  its  way  ex- 
panding and  developing  its  own  genius. 

The  persecutions  of  the  Jews  during  the  middle 
ages  so  relentlessly,  so  bitterly  continued,  evidenced 


[  18  ]  JEW  AND 

far  more  rancor  on  the  part  of  the  world  towards  the 
Jew  than  of  the  Jew  to  the  world.  It  is  significant  to 
say  the  least  that  in  southern  France  and  Bohemia 
where  Jewish  influence  was  strong  that  the  Albigense 
and  Hussite  movements  developed.  Jew  must  have 
met  non-Jew  in  free  intercourse;  and  while  the 
Church  visited  both  heretics  and  Jews  with  its  fury, 
it  is  no  little  glory  for  the  Jew  thus  to  have  helped 
the  cause  of  religious  development  and  freedom. 

These  mediaeval  experiences  have  left  an  indelible 
impress  upon  the  character  of  the  Jew  individually 
and  socially.  His  doctrine  of  election  tended  to  make 
him  self-conscious  and  gave  him  a  degree  of  self- 
assurance,  which  has  protected  him  from  extermina- 
tion at  many  a  critical  period  in  his  history.  On  the 
other  hand,  this  long  continued  persecution  has  left 
him  shy,  sometimes  suspicious.  The  constant  menace 
of  the  proselytizer  no  less  fearsome  to  him  than  the 
torture  chamber  itself  has  made  him  fear  the  Greeks 
when  bearing  gifts.  He  has  become  chary  of  making 
advances  because  he  has  found  the  world  far  more 
ready  to  accept  his  sacrifices  than  to  yield  one  jot  or 
tittle  of  its  viewpoint;  and  because  he  has  become  so 
hypersensitive,  every  rebuff  has  sent  him  back 
decades  and  bewildered  him.  Probably  at  no  time 
did  he  experience  this  more  vividly  than  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Recognizing  the  dominant  philosophy 
of  cosmopolitanism  as  congenial  to  his  Jewish  view- 


NON-JEW  [  19  ] 

point,  and  having  by  his  world  experiences  become  a 
typical  cosmopolite,  he  threw  himself  into  the  activi- 
ties of  modern  times  with  a  zest  and  a  zeal  that  were 
admirable.  He  sacrificed  much.  Upon  the  vanity 
heap  in  the  market  place  he  cast  many  a  cherished 
mode  of  life.  Anti-Semitism  sent  him  back  and  re- 
pulsed him  in  unmeasured  terms  assuring  him  that 
he  did  not  belong  to  this  western  world  and  that  his 
very  presence  was  a  menace  to  its  well  doing.  We 
have  learned  bitter  lessons;  not  that  we  would  not 
associate  with  Gentiles,  but  we  will  not  be  patronized 
by  our  equals  who  consider  themselves  our  betters; 
nor  would  we  be  thrust  downwards  merely  for  the 
sake  of  non-Jewish  associations.  This  process  has 
thrown  the  Jew  back  upon  himself  and  has  intensified 
his  self-consciousness  as  well  as  certain  racial  char- 
acteristics and  social  differences. 

But  most  remarkable  is  the  fact  that  under  the 
sting  of  this  mistreatment  his  prayers  for  speedy 
release  from  his  burning  sorrows  produced  no  expres- 
sion of  malice  towards  his  tormentors.  He  has  never 
attempted  retaliatory  measures — maybe  he  was  too 
weak — maybe  it  was  a  mistake  not  to  attempt  to  do 
so.  But  the  fact  remains  that  he  has  not.  It  is  one 
of  the  ironies  of  history  that  at  the  very  period  that 
the  Jew  .was  giving  greatest  service  to  the  world, 
acting  as  the  economic  intermediary  between  the 
nations,  thus  joining  the  east  with  the  west,  that  the 


[  20  ]  JEW  AND 

world  treated  him  worst.  He  has  accepted  his  miser- 
able lot  with  an  heroic  resignation  unparalleled  in 
history.  His  literature  teems  with  expressions  if  not 
of  love,  yet  of  regard  for  and  understanding  of  his 
persecutors.  In  the  face  of  the  worst,  with  cries  of 
the  dying  still  shrill  in  his  ears,  his  rabbis  have  taught 
forbearance,  restraint  and  even  forgiveness.  The 
bloody  trail  of  the  Crusaders  across  Europe  is  made 
luminous  by  the  pathetic  elegies  of  the  Jew  celebrating 
his  martyred  kin  and  by  his  marvelous  forebearance 
and  patience  under  the  stinging  blows  of  the  crucifix 
— sword  of  the  knights  of  the  faith  of  love.  The 
Spanish  exiles  depart  from  Spain  with  tear  stained 
cheeks  not  only  because  of  their  physical  pain  but 
more  because  of  their  heart  aches  at  leaving  the 
fatherland  which  they  loved  despite  the  misery  which 
its  hard  hearted  kings  and  prelates  had  ground  into 
their  hearts.  And  the  sons  of  these  Spanish  exiles  still 
preserve  the  memory  of  their  long  residence  in  that 
land,  and  continue  to  speak  the  Castilian  tongue 
of  1492. 

Our  religious  philosophers  write  of  Christianity 
and  Islam  in  so  liberal  and  appreciative  a  strain  that 
their  very  words  are  worthy  of  quotation.  In  a  day 
(12th  century)  in  which  Christendom  had  hardly 
emerged  from  the  deep  black  of  the  dark  ages,  when 
heretics  were  hunted  out  like  dogs,  Jews  spitted  like 
swine,  and  Christian  theology  damned  unbelievers  to 


NON-JEW  [21] 

eternal  hell  fire,  the  tolerant  attitude  of  the  Jewish 
philosophers  is  all  the  more  remarkable.  They  con- 
tinue the  Jewish  tradition  which  saw  in  all  men 
brothers,  descendants  of  the  original  man,  and  who 
believed  that  those  who  exercised  the  fundamental 
moralities  of  the  seven  Noachian  Commands  were 
worthy  of  Divine  grace  and  blessing.  Jehuda  Ha-levi, 
the  poet-philosopher  of  12th  century  Spain  in  his 
dialog  on  the  respective  merits  of  the  three  faiths, 
called  the  Kuzari,  writes  "These  religions  (Christi- 
anity and  Islam)  are  the  preparation  and  the  preface 
to  the  Messiah  we  expect,  who  is  the  fruit  himself  of 
the  seed  originally  sown ;  and  all  men  will  be  the  fruit 
of  God's  seed  when  they  acknowledge  Him  and  all 
become  one  mighty  tree."  A  half  century  later,  Moses 
Maimonides  expresses  similar  sentiments.  Discussing 
the  two  great  daughter  religions  of  Judaism  in  his 
famous  code  "The  Strong  Hand,"  he  writes:  "The 
teachings  of  him  of  Nazareth  (Jesus)  and  of  the  man 
of  Ishmael  (Mohammed)  who  rose  after  him,  help  to 
bring  to  perfection  all  mankind,  so  that  they  may 
serve  God  with  one  consent.  For  in  that  the  world 
is  full  of  the  words  of  the  Messiah,  of  the  Holy  Writ, 
and  the  Commandments — these  words  have  spread 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth  even  if  many  deny  the  bind- 
ing character  of  them  at  the  present  day.  And  when 
the  Messiah  does  come,  all  will  return  from  their 
errors." 


[22] JEW  AND 

Malmonides'  own  father  allowed  himself  the  use  of 
Moslem  terminology  and  the  Jewish  moral  phil- 
osopher, Bachya  ibn  Pakuda,  praises  the  Christian 
institution  of  monasticism.  Joseph  Albo  (15th  cen- 
tury) shows  the  influence  of  Christian  thought  upon 
his  philosophy,  and  Isaac  Abarbanel,  the  exegete, 
quotes  Christian  authorities.  A  much  earlier,  even 
more  interesting  parallel  to  this  is  found  in  the  case 
of  Hai  Gaon  (10th  century  in  Babylonia)  who  con- 
sulted the  Catholicos  of  the  oriental  Christians  at 
Bagdad  with  reference  to  the  interpretation  of  difficult 
scriptural  passages. 

Many  a  precept  comes  from  the  Middle  Age  illus- 
trative of  Jewish  care  and  treatment  of  the  non-Jew. 
Lebi  b.  Isaac  ha-Hasid,  a  French  Jew  of  the  10th 
century,  writes,  "Treat  with  equal  honesty  the  Chris- 
tian as  your  brother  in  faith.  If  a  Christian  make  a 
mistake  to  his  loss,  call  his  attention  to  it.  If  a  Jew 
be  a  tax  gatherer,  demand  no  more  from  a  Christian 
than  from  a  Jew;  A  Jew  shall  not  be  untruthful  in 
traffic  with  Jew  or  Gentile."  Rabbi  Jehudah  b. 
Samuel  of  Regensburg  writes  in  the  Book  of  Pious 
Souls,  "Mislead  no  one  through  thy  actions  designedly, 
be  he  Jew  or  non-Jew;  be  not  disputatious  and 
quarrelsome  with  people  whatever  be  their  faith  *  *  * 
If  a  contract  be  made  between  Jews  and  non-Jews, 
the  former  must  fulfill  it  even  if  the  latter  fail  to 
perform  that  to  which  they  were  bound.   *  *  *  In- 


NON-JEW  [  23  ] 

justice  must  not  be  done  whether  one  belongs  to  our 
reUgion  or  to  another."  Moses  b.  Coucy  (1245)  writes 
in  his  Sefer  Mitzvot  Gedolot,  "Those  who  He  to  non- 
Jews  and  steal  from  them  belong  to  the  category  of 
blasphemers;  for  it  is  due  to  their  guilt  that  many 
say  the  Jews  have  no  binding  law."  With  these  and 
similar  sentiments  we  invite  comparison  with  the 
Middle  Age  Christian  teaching  that  ''one  need  not 
keep  faith  with  a  heretic."  Asher  b.  Yechiel  (1327) 
urges  upon  his  sons  in  his  Ethical  Testament,  "Re- 
main grateful  to  any  one  who  hath  helped  thee;  be 
sincere  and  true  with  everyone,  even  though  they  be 
not  Jews;  be  the  first  to  extend  courteous  greeting  to 
every  man  whatever  be  his  faith  and  provoke  not  to 
wrath  one  whose  belief  differs  from  thine."  The  senti- 
ments thus  expressed  were  translated  into  practice 
and  though  the  religion  of  the  Jew  was  despised,  he 
showed  that  his  faith  in  humankind  was  greater  than 
misunderstanding  and  insult.  "By  their  works  shall 
ye  know  them";  the  works  of  the  Jew  speak  for 
themselves. 

It  is  said  that  in  southern  France  in  the  12th 
century  Christians  had  to  be  restrained  from  bringing 
their  cases  before  Jewish  courts  where  it  was  claimed 
the  administration  of  justice  was  more  intelligent  and 
fairer-minded.  Jewish  hospitality  was  famous  for  its 
generosity,  though  many  a  non-Jew  thus  entertained 
repaid  his  host's  kindness  not  in  kind  but  in  pain. 


[24] JEW  AND 

Sick  and  penniless  travelers  were  frequently  cared 
for  in  Jewish  institutions,  where  need  was  met  and 
no  questions  asked.  Jews  taught  non-Jews  not  only 
the  lore  of  Shem  but  also  instructed  them  in  the 
secular  sciences,  chiefly  medicine,  mathematics  and 
astronomy,  in  which  they  were  particularly  proficient. 
These  literary  friendships  are  noteworthy.  The  great 
Church  Father  and  Bible  student  Origen  begins  the 
long  line  of  such  relations.  St.  Jerome  (d.  420  C.  E.) 
studied  with  a  Jew  as  did  the  Prior  of  Fulda  in  the 
8th  century.  History  further  preserves  the  names  of 
a  large  number  of  Jews  and  their  Christian  pupils. 
The  Abbot  Nilus  and  the  Jew  Donnolo;  Michael 
Scotus  and  the  Jew  Anatoli;  Robert  of  Aragon  and 
the  Jews  Kalonymos  and  Levi  Romani;  Reuchlin 
and  the  Jews  Obadiah  Sforno  and  Jacob  Loano;  Pico 
di  Mirandola  and  the  Jews  Elijah  del  Medigo  and 
Johanan  Aleman;  Guido  Rangoni  and  the  Jew  Jacob 
Mantino;  Cardinal  Sirleto  and  the  Jew  Lazarus  de 
Viterbo;  Cardinal  Egibio  and  the  Jew  Elias  Levita. 
But  most  romantic  of  all  is  the  literary  friendship  of 
Dante  and  the  Jewish  poet  Immanuel  of  Rome. 
That  such  friendships  existed  is  a  tribute  to  the 
manhood  of  both  parties.  To  override  dominant 
prejudices  is  hard  enough  at  all  times;  hardest  under 
circumstances  such  as  prevailed  in  the  social  life  of 
the  Middle  Ages. 

Jewish  physicians  were  ever  ready  to  serve  without 


NON-JEW  [  25  ] 

distinction  as  to  creed  or  cult  and  were  ever  found 
worthy  of  the  confidence  bestowed  upon  them  by 
their  Christian  patrons.  Even  when  papal  bulls  for- 
bade the  employment  of  Jewish  physicians,  the  Popes 
themselves  were  waited  upon  by  the  skilled  men  of 
medical  knowledge  who  were  found  in  the  Jewish 
communities.  Had  there  been  any  resentment  towards 
the  Christian  world  for  its  harsh  treatment  of  the 
Jews,  had  there  been  any  thought  of  revenge  in  their 
hearts,  the  Jewish  physician  and  courtier  enjoyed 
unique  opportunities  for  gratifying  such  a  desire.  If 
the  Jew  had  hated  his  fellow  Christians — and  we 
believe  he  had  sufficient  provocation  for  so  doing  at 
times — they  would  not  have  borne  arms  and  carried 
burdens  for  their  stepmother-lands. 

A  Jewish  regiment  offering  its  services  to  the 
United  States  need  provoke  no  comment;  but  Jewish 
companies  in  the  army  of  their  most  Christian 
majesties  Alphonso  VI,  Alphonso  VIII,  Alphonso  X 
of  Spain,  or  of  Philip  the  Handsome  of  France  indi- 
cate that  their  relations  with  their  fellows  were 
established  on  a  broad  and  friendly  basis  and  that 
they  entertained  no  hostile  sentiments,  but  rather 
coveted  the  opportunity  to  serve  when  opportunity 
offered  itself  to  confute  their  detractors  and  to 
prove  their  worth. 

The  charge  of  Jewish  antipathy  to  the  non-Jew  is 
most   frequently   based    upon    his    refusal    to    inter- 


[26]  JEW  AND 

marry.  Because  of  this  he  has  been  abused  by  dis- 
senters from  his  own  midst  and  by  the  great  outside. 
This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  a  detailed  dis- 
cussion of  this  intricate  and  delicate  question.  This 
refusal  to  intermarry  is  not  because  the  Jew  is  in 
any  manner  hostile  to  the  non-Jew.  Those  who 
advocate  this  do  so  upon  the  ground  of  the  integrity 
of  Judaism.  The  public  safety  is  the  supreme  law, 
and  the  safety  of  the  Jewish  group  and  its  viewpoint 
depends  upon  its  ability  to  impose  such  a  rule  of 
conduct  upon  its  followers.  From  the  earliest  times, 
Jewish  teaching  was  directed  to  this  end  so  that  the 
ideal  of  the  Jew  might  not  be  lost.  Refusal  to  inter- 
marry with  the  Canaanitish  nations,  the  stern  dis- 
approval of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  of  such  unions,  the 
practice  and  the  custom  through  succeeding  ages 
have  given  this  attitude  an  importance  of  the  first 
degree.  Marriage  with  a  non-Jew  is  not  considered 
invalid  from  any  point  of  view.  It  is  considered 
inexpedient  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  integrity 
of  the  Jewish  group.  Intermarriage  is  not  deprecated 
today  on  the  grounds  of  the  superior  worth  of  the 
Jew  to  the  non-Jew.  It  is  not  considered  desirable 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  religious  unity  and 
harmony  which  should  prevail  in  the  ideal  home.  We 
need  not  point  out  that  we  stand  on  common 'ground 
with  all  the  great  religions  of  the  world  who  hold 
exactly  the  same  views  with  regard  to  intermarriage. 


NON-JEW  [  27  ] 

We  believe  that  it  is  a  fundamental  right  of  every 
group  to  protect  itself  in  this  manner  and  to  per- 
petuate its  particular  lines  of  thought  and  activity. 
We  hold  suicide  to  be  cowardly  even  if  it  be  in  this 
indirect  manner  for  it  offers  no  solution  to  our  prob- 
lem or  to  any  problem  for  all  that.  Evasion  is  not 
solution. 

We  are  ready  to  admit  such  into  our  group  who 
like  Ruth  of  old  are  ready  to  declare  "Thy  people 
shall  be  my  people,  thy  God,  my.  God."  We  stand 
ready  to  welcome  the  convert  into  our  brotherhood, 
though  we  are  frankly  suspicious  of  those  who  do 
not  seek  us  of  their  own  volition  and  with  the  purest 
of  motives  and  intentions.  We  find  expressions  of 
opinion  of  ancient  rabbis  condemning  such  proselytes 
as  a  menace  to  the  Jew.  Proselytism  is  a  two-edged 
sword.  It  may  strengthen;  it  may  dilute.  The  satura- 
tion point  is  a  serious  matter,  for  ''newcomers"  into 
the  faith  bring  with  them  considerable  of  the  atmos- 
phere whence  they  came.  Once  within  the  group, 
there  is  no  discrimination  for  of  old  has  it  been 
made  clear  by  prophet  and  by  rabbi  that  "even  from 
them  shall  I  take  for  priests  and  for  Levites."  Any 
discrimination  against  the  newcomer  is  strictly  for- 
bidden for  all  are  one  before  God. 

The  question  of  the  loyalty  of  the  Jew  to  his 
adopted  country  must  necessarily  come  under  the 
purview  of  our  subject.  On  the  one  hand  his  longing 


[  28]  JEW  AND 

for  Zion  would  seem  to  have  made  it  impossible  for 
him  to  identify  himself  with  the  new  land.  Inasmuch 
as  the  period  of  the  strongest  expression  of  his  love 
for  Zion  is  usually  coincident  vAth  the  periods  of  his 
harshest  treatment  by  his  fellows — indeed  its  in- 
tensity is  usually  to  be  measured  by  such  persecu- 
tions— it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  prayed  for 
an  escape  from  his  misery.  Yet  even  in  such  an  extreme 
case  as  Spain,  the  love  of  the  Jew  for  Spain  was  most 
pathetic.  Further  it  must  be  remembered  that  love 
of  country  is  more  or  less  tied  up  with  one's  rights  to 
own  real  property.  It  is  only  such  ownership  that  is 
much  of  a  guarantee  of  permanence  and  of  that 
increasing  loyalty  which  arises  therefrom.  And  the 
Jew  only  in  the  rarest  cases  was  allowed  to  own 
property.  He  felt  the  insecurity  of  his  position  under 
such  circumstances;  yet  take  it  all  in  all,  he  developed 
a  marvelous  love  for  his  stepmother-lands.  The  love 
of  the  Russian  Jew  for  Russia  is  almost  beyond 
comprehension.  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  never 
entirely  absent  certain  universalist  tendencies  in 
Jewish  thought  and  life.  These  spiritualized  the 
Messianic  hope  and  looked  forward  to  a  world  era 
which  would  realize  the  ideals  of  a  spiritual  Zionism. 
And  so  from  Jeremiah  down,  the  thought  is  repeated 
in  variant  form,  'Tray  for  the  welfare  of  the  land 
whither  thou  goest";  and  the  dictum  of  the  rabbis 
that  ''The  law  of  the  land  is  supreme"  was  accepted. 


NON-JEW  [  29  ] 

So  the  Zionist  today  insists  that  his  love  for  Zion  in 
no  manner  interferes  with  his  patriotism:  and  truly 
of  this  double  love  the  Zionist  must  be  the  one  to 
testify  from  his  own  experience.  Certainly  the  record 
of  the  modern  Jew  as  a  patriot  and  citizen  leaves  no 
opportunity  for  doubt  as  to  his  fervid  love  for  the 
land  of  his  birth  and  his  citizenship. 

When  the  ghetto  doors  flew  open  the  Jew  did  not 
need  to  learn  tolerance;  he  had  practiced  it  through 
all  his  history.  The  new  life  gave  him  an  opportunity 
for  realizing  its  possibilities  and  its  promises.  Our 
attitude  towards  the  outside  world  is  best  demon- 
strated in  the  modern  world  by  our  works,  rather 
than  by  our  words.  Volumes  might  be  written  of  the 
contributions  of  the  Jew  to  the  world  during  the  past 
century.  The  broad  point  of  view  of  the  modern  Jew 
since  his  political  and  social  emancipation  during  the 
last  century  can  be  demonstrated  from  many  a 
source,  sermon,  public  address,  written  and  spoken 
word.  But  of  far  more  significance  is  the  work  which 
the  Jew  has  been  doing,  and  still  is  doing,  in  the 
few  decades  which  have  elapsed  since  his  entrance 
into  the  larger  life  of  the  western  world. 

His  economic  success  has  been  his  own.  Indirectly, 
he  may  have  thus  contributed  to  the  expansion  of 
his  nation;  but  after  all  is  said  and  done  it  is  for 
himself  and  his  own  gain  that  he  has  done  these  great 
things.  This  indirect  service  has  not  been  mean;  its 


[30] JEW  AND 

value,  great.  However,  even  In  the  industrial  world, 
had  there  been  malice  in  his  heart  tOAvards  his  fellow- 
men,  the  freedom  of  association  which  such  life 
necessitates  w^ould  have  been  impossible.  It  can  not 
be  without  its  meaning  that  the  Jew  has  played  a 
leading  role  in  the  great  modern  industrial  movements 
which  have  an  ethical  basis.  Socialism  was  originated 
by  Jews;  and  today  Jews  play  a  leading  role  in  its 
spread  and  interpretation.  And  under  the  leadership 
of  a  Jew  trades  unionism  has  been  brought  to  its 
highest  point  of  efficiency  and  been  given  an  increasing 
ethical  bearing.  The  Jew  has  thrown  himself  into  the 
vortex  of  modern  life  with  a  most  commendable  zeal, 
and  has  contributed  in  most  generous  manner  his 
very  best  to  the  realization  of  the  ideals  of  the  nation 
of  which  he  has  become  a  citizen. 

Along  one  line  he  has  delighted  to  work  above  all 
others.  He  has  given  millions  back  to  the  common 
social  fund  of  the  human  race  for  relief  and  pre- 
ventive work  and  has  asked  that  it  be  distributed  to 
all,  regardless  of  creed,  race  or  color.  Recently  it  was 
reported  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  large  sums  which 
had  been  contributed  in  modern  France  for  educa- 
tional purposes  had  come  from  Jewish  pocketbooks. 
The  Jew  gives  of  himself  generously  and  asks  only 
that  common  justice  be  granted'  him  to  live  his  life. 
Anti-Semitism  has  thrown  many  Jews  back  centuries 
and  made  them  crawl  into  their  shells;  others,  the 


NON-JEW  [31] 

braver  it  has  determined  that  their  service  shall  be 
more  generous  than  ever  before.  With  a  moiety  of 
Jewish  money  feeding  the  hungry,  educating  the 
ignorant,  healing  the  sick  and  bringing  light  into 
dark  places,  with  a  splendid  devotion  of  Jewish  brains 
to  the  problems  of  all  humanity,  social,  scientific, 
literary  and  economic — efforts  of  the  Jew  for  the 
world  more  than  for  himself,  the  attitude  of  the  Jew 
to  the  world  must  speak  more  and  more  for  itself. 
Non-sectarian  work  done  with  the  aid  of  Jewish 
money  and  Jewish  brains  is  the  best  reply  which  we 
can  make  to  Anti-Semitism  and  its  mad  advocates. 
Anti-Semitism  certainly  hurts  the  Jew,  both  directly 
and  indirectly;  but  it  is  even  more  harmful  to  the 
Anti-Semite.  In  all  Jewish  literature  no  parallels  can 
be  found  to  the  foul  and  vicious  utterances  of  the 
modern  anti-Semite  who  time  and  again  has  advised 
his  Hotspurs  to  crush  every  Jewish  skull  upon  which 
he  can  lay  hold. 

The  work  of  such  men  as  Gabriel  Riesser,  Edward 
Lasker,  Berthold  Auerbach,  Heinrich  Heine,  and 
Ludwig  Boerne  in  the  intellectual  and  political  re- 
habilitation of  modern  Germany  is  worthy  of  mention 
in  this  connection.  The  spectacle  of  the  Jew  who 
had  for  centuries  been  denied  all  rights,  social,  civil, 
political,  intellectual  and  economic,  throwing  him- 
self into  the  turmoil  which  surrounded  the  birth  of 
the  new  nation — suffering,  sacrificing,  warring,  dying 


[  n  ]  JEW  AND 

for  the  cause — is  far  more  creditable  to  his  generous 
patriotism  than  is  the  denial  of  his  Germanic  rights 
by  those  whose  very  names  declare  them  to  be  of 
Slavic  origin.  And  what  happened  in  Germany  hap- 
pened, too,  in  Italy,  France,  England  and  America. 
Those  who  know  Jewish  history  and  Jewish  character 
know  full  well  that  when  the  dark  clouds  which  now 
cover  Russia  and  Russian  Jewry  in  particular,  give 
way  to  the  light,  the  muchly  abused  Russian  Jew 
will  evidence  his  noble  instincts  by  rendering  to 
Russia  such  service  as  his  fellows  have  given  their 
new  born  fatherlands  in  western  Europe  and  America. 
The  Jewish  scriptures  begin  with  the  story  of 
MAN,  not  with  the  history  of  the  Jew.  His  God  is 
the  sovereign  of  the  universe,  his  faith  for  the  day 
on  which  God  will  be  one  and  His  name  one.  The 
people  which  started  out  with  a  philosophy  of  history 
which  included  all  men  can  have  no  higher  concern 
than  of  bringing  the  dream  of  brotherhood  into 
realization.  Not  that  the  Jew  expects  Judaism  qua 
Judaism  to  become  the  faith  of  the  world  although 
he  feels  fully  convinced  that  its  universal  ideas  and 
ideals  are  expressions  of  mankind's  highest  aspira- 
tions; yet  he  does  look  forward  hopefully  to  that  day 
of  mutual  sympathy  and  better  understanding 
between  churches,  creeds,  classes  and  races,  whereon 
each  shall  be  firm  in  his  own  viewpoint,  yet  all  "shall 
go  and  say,  Come  ye,  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain 


NON-JEW  [  33  ] 

of  the  Lord  and  He  will  teach  us  of  His  ways,  and 
we  will  walk  in  His  laws,  for  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth 
the  Law  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem." 
The  Jew  of  the  twentieth  century  clasps  hands  with 
the  unknown  scribe  of  Genesis,  who  wrote  "this  is 
the  book  of  the  generations  of  Man"  (V.  1).  The 
Jew  of  America  finds  himself  in  accord  with  the 
Palestinian  rabbi  of  the  second  century  who  offered 
this  verse  as  the  most  significant  in  the  Bible  because 
it  taught  us  the  common  origin  of  all  mankind.  We 
pray  today  for  the  world  as  our  fathers  offered  sacri- 
fices for  the  nations.  The  half-forgotten  Hellenistic 
literature  of  Alexandrian  Judaism  and  the  largely  un- 
known literature  of  the  Palestinian  and  Babylonian 
rabbis  are  links  in  a  written  tradition  w^hich  extends 
right  down  into  our  own  day.  Abraham,  the  father  of 
the  faithful  Moses,  the  man  of  God,  Isaiah  and 
Jeremiah,  Ben  Sirach,  the  Palestinian,  Philo,  the 
Egyptian,  Hillel,  the  Liberal  and  Akiba,  the  Rigorist, 
Judah  the  Holy  as  well  as  Maimonides,  Jehudah 
Halevy  and  ibn  Gebirol,  Mendelssohn  and  Moses 
Montefiore,  not  to  omit  an  Einhorn,  a  Geiger,  a  Wise, 
and  scores  of  other  big-souled,  large-hearted  Jews, 
who  saw  beyond  the  limits  of  their  own  group  but 
who  realized  that  that  group  was  worth  while,  too — 
all  tell  the  same  story  of  how  the  Jew  regarded  the 
world  from  his  lofty  viewpoint  of  the  missioner  of 
the  peoples. 


[34]  JEW  AND 

The  modern  Jew  still  loves  his  Judaism  though  he 
may  at  times  interpret  it  in  manner  new  to  himself 
and  to  the  world.  He  believes  in  it  and  in  himself  not 
only  because  he  has  had  a  wonderful  past  but  also 
because  he  knows  that  he  has  a  still  more  wonderful 
future.  He  would  frame  a  satisfactory  restatement  of 
the  thought  that  God  chose  the  fathers  to  do  a  great 
work  in  the  working  out  of  the  divine  plan,  a  great 
work  in  which  Israel  would  serve  the  world ;  he  would 
convey  the  conviction  of  his  divine  sonship  to  his 
brethren,  whose  welfare  and  security  he  has  ever 
been  seeking. 

We  Jews  recognize  our  brethren  of  the  world.  We 
ask  but  the  privilege  to  live  our  own  lives  of  service 
and  of  sacrifice.  We  are  not  against  the  world.  We 
are  of  it  and  with  it.  We  are  not  anti-alien  in  our 
hopes  or  our  fears.  Our  noblest  dream  of  self-realiza- 
tion includes  no  less  than  human  kind.  Many  a 
religious  attitude  is  assumed  for  no  better  reason 
than  that  a  rival  faith  holds  the  otherwise.  So  we  feel 
sure  that  the  misunderstanding  of  the  Jewish  idea  of 
election  has  often  caused  the  resentment  of  the 
Gentile;  and  the  harsh  treatment  of  the  Jew  by  the 
Christian  has  evoked  many  a  bitter  thought  in  the 
mind  of  the  Jew;  for  take  it  all  in  all,  the  world  has 
not  judged  fairly  of  the  Jewish  point  of  view.  Tradi- 
tional prejudices  have  condemned  him  unheard,  and 
the  air  is  still  rife  with  old  catch-words,  that  the  Jew 


NON-JEW  [  35  ] 

is  tribal,  mean,  etc.  Audiatur  et  altera  pars;  for  there 
is  another  side,  big  and  compelling,  too. 

We  stand  bound  to  our  fellows  by  a  thousand  ties: 
but  to  our  brethren  of  the  house  of  Israel  the  ties 
number  one  thousand  and  one. 


THIS  is  one  of  a  series  of  pamphleis  published  by  the 
Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations.  These 
essays  are  designed  to  convey  information  on  the  Je^vish 
religion  and  Jewish  history,  and  are  intended  for  general 
distribution.  They  are  prepared  by  the  Commission  on 
Information  about  Judaism  appointed  jointly  by  the 
Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations  and  the 
Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis. 


THE   COMMISSION   ON 

NFORMATION     ABOUT     JUDAISM 

MERCHANTS  BUILDING,   CINCINNATI   2,   OHIO 


What  Do  Jews  Believe?  Rabbi  H.  G.  Enelow,  D.  D. 

The  Jew  in  America.  Rabbi  David  Philipson,  D.  D. 

Jew  and  Non-Jew.  Rabbi  Martin  A.  Meyer,  Ph.  D.  ! 

Jewish  Ethics.  Rabbi  Samuel  Schulman,  D.  D. 

The  Universal  Lord.  Rabbi  Maurice  H.  Harris,  D.  D. 

Humanitarianism  of  the  Laws  of  Israel.  Rabbi  Jacob  Raisin,  Ph.  D. 

Post-Biblical  Judaism — I.  Its  Biblical  Foundation — The  Midrash. 

Rabbi  Israel  Bettan,  D.  D. 
Judaism's  Influence  in  the  Founding  of  the  Republic.  Rabbi  Morris  M. 

Feuerlicht,  A.  B. 
Philanthropy  in  Rabbinical  Literature.  Rabbi  Abraham  Cronbach,  D.  D. 
The  Jewish  Prayerbook.  Rabbi  Solomon  B.  Freehof,  D.  D. 
Judaism  and  Democracy.  Rabbi  Louis  Witt,  A.  B. 
Jewish  Philanthropic  Institutions  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Rabbi  Abraham  Cronbach,  D.  D. 
Judaism  and  Socialism.  Rabbi  Jacob  Tarshish,  A.  B. 
The  Jewish  Holidays.  Rabbi  William  Rosenau,  Ph.  D. 
Post-Biblical  Judaism— II.  Its  Spiritual  Note.  Rabbi  Israel  Bettan,  D.  D. 
Judaism  and  Unitarianism.  Rabbi  Abraham  J.  Feldman,  A.  B. 
Judaism  and  International  Peace.  Raobi  Joseph  S.  Kornfeld,  A.  B. 
A  Layman's  Jewish  Library.  Rabbi  Israel  Bettan,  D.  D.,  Rabbi  Louis  I. 

Egelson,  M.  A.,  Rabbi  Jacob  R.  Marcus,  Ph.  D.,  Chairman.   (Tem- 
porarily out  of  print.) 
Judaism  and  Marriage.  Rabbi  Felix  A.  Levy,  Ph.  D. 
Post-Biblical  Judaism — III.  Its  Healthy-mindedness.  Rabbi  Israel  Bettan, 

D.  D. 
Immortality  in  Judaism.  Rabbi  Israel  Mattuck,  A.  M.,  D.  H.  L. 
Isaac  M.  Wise.  Rabbi  David  Philipson,  D.  D. 

Jewish  Philanthropy  in  the  Biblical  Era.  Rabbi  Ephraim  Frisch,  Ph.  D. 
Post-Biblical  Judaism — IV.  Its  Conception  of  Israel's  Place  in  the  World. 

Rabbi  Israel  Bettan,  D.  D. 
The  Social  Outlook  of  Modern  Judaism.  Rabbi  Abraham  Cronbach,  D.D. 
What  Is  the  Talmud?  Rabbi  Max  Reichler,  A.  B. 
What  Is  Reform  Judaism?  Rabbi  Solomon  B.  Freehof,  D.  D. 
The  Jewish  Idea  of  God.  Rabbi  Samuel  S.  Cohon,  A.  B. 
Contributions  of  Judaism  to  Modern  Society.  Rabbi  Abraham  J.  Feld- 
man, A.  B. 
The  Faith  and  Message  of  the  Prophets.  Moses  Buttenwieser,  Ph.  D. 
The  Jewish  Concept  of  the  Chosen  People.  Rabbi  Bernard  Heller,  Ph.  D. 
.  Judaism  and  War.  Rabbi  Samuel  S.  Cohon,  A.  B. 
.  Post-Biblical  Judaism— V.  Its  Role  in  the  Survival  of  the  Jew.  Rabbi 

Israel  Bettan,  D.  D. 
,  Judaism  and  Healing.  Rabbi  Louis  Witt,  A.  B, 


PHOTOMOUNT 
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